Sadly every summer people die from not having AC in the southern heat with the high humidity, when you walk outside it will take your breath away, like walking into an oven, I have had mechanics from Arizona tell me that they had rather be in their 105+ temps then our lower 90-95+ heat cause of the humidity…
I’ve had people that needed tires (belts showing) and brakes making noise, almost metal on metal, declined half off on cheap tires and $129 brake jobs, turn around and spend $1200-1500+ to repair their AC with NO discounts…
Funny you say that, we had a manager years ago that would say anything to anybody and didn’t care… He had a customer that said I can’t do the tie rod end now, my Dog has an appointment at the groomers next, he said I hope you can ride that dog because you ain’t gonna make it in your car, well, she left upset and at the next (close) red light, went to turn right and it broke…
Customers money, vehicle, decision and sometimes stupidity, no laws in TN saying you can’t drive that way…
And, before anyone posts that “we need low-priced cars like this again”, I will point out that the annual salary of non-professionals at the time of the $650 Curved Dash Oldsmobile was in the range of $300-400. Thus–unlike today–it was not possible for a non-professional to buy a car unless he/she saved-up his/her money for many years.
Yes of course it would be cheaper than a lot of things but if your target market was the high class professional with a lot of money, doesn’t make sense.
It would make sense if their market was seen as the general public who might be more concerned about the cost involved.
No big deal. I just see these old ads as hilarious in their verbiage. Reading old newspapers I always laugh when they report “and a fun time was had by all”. When writing about a visit. Interestingly, the same comment was made today in another column on another site, totally unknown to me at the time. Of course there is no one alive today that could shed some light on why they talked that way and what they all considered when thinking about putting Bessey out to pasture.
I think it’s more likely that they were aiming at professionals–who typically made 3-4 times as much as the general public–but who were still cautious about possibly buying a product that cost more in the long run than they wanted to spend.
The bottom line is that there were cars that sold for about 1/2 of the cost of that Olds model, and–of course–there were high-end brands that sold for many times more than the Oldsmobile, but most of those other brands didn’t remain on the market for anywhere near as long as Olds (and REO) did.
I’ve been listening to some 1940’s radio programs, primary family evening entertainment before TV. The show’s advertiser (Kellogg’s Pep cereal, sort of like corn flakes presumably) promotes a cardboard Walky Talky that kids can get just by sending in 10 cents and two boxtops. Pretty good deal for a Walky Talky. They say it is “just like the one used by the characters in the radio program”, meaning it is green, has military emblems, has had both a transmitter and a receiver. and 45 feet of cord, which can be extended to 200 feet, but presumably you need more cord for that … lol … I expect you can guess what it actually is.
My brother swears by the reliability of his Honda Civic. His previous one had over 400000 kms with no problems until he got hit from behind.
His 2015 Honds has over 200000kms.Again no problems.
Like they say " If it ain’t broken…
…
…"
Yeah well my Buick had 520,000 with the engine never opened up except for a timing chain. But then do we wait until the soles on our shoes are falling off before having them repaired or replaced?
I think there are certain parts with engineered failure points that would be wise to replace from time to time if you prefer to select when and where instead of it being picked for you at random. I guess it just depends where you drive to. If you are never more tha 30 miles from home, no big deal I guess.
So I asked my wife why she has 100 pairs of shoes? She replied because I can. Never gonna be worn out.
I haven’t replaced an alternator or starter on any car we bought since 1986… even when vehicle had wall over 300k miles. Last one was my 1984 GMC pickup.
My 50+ year old Ford truck still has both the original alternator and starter motor, never replaced, never repaired. My 30+ year old Corolla has its original alternator, but is on it 5th or 6th starter motor. Any car-part’s robustness is going to depend on its original design, varies vehicle to vehicle.
Waterpump, trend b/t truck and Corolla reverse. Truck in on the number 7 water pump; Corolla on the other hand is on number 2, and that replacement, only recently. Fortunately for diy’er me , it is about 7 times easier to replace the truck’s water pump.
Well you guys are lucky ducks. Back when you could still take them apart, I would overhaul the alternators every 70,000 miles or so. The brushes, diodes, and regulator were about $20. Once in a while the bearings.
The generator went out on my 59 Pontiac 150 miles from home. I had to stop at a truck stop to get the battery charged. Lights were pretty dim by the time I got home. Then my 59 vw was only 10 miles from home when the light went on. Geez my olds too. So I guess I’ve had a few fail on me. Maybe using the radio.
